SOUTH RIVER — It is not fiscally responsible for the parking authority to remain autonomous, according to its members.
Authority representatives addressed the Borough Council on the matter at the council’s June 27 meeting. Borough officials are looking to bring the parking authority, which has been an autonomous agency more than 20 years, under their control.
Borough Business Administrator An- drew Salerno said the parking authority, which has two part-time employees but is otherwise all volunteers, has approved a resolution enabling it to disband.
Authority members told the council that they pay the salary for a traffic enforcement officer, but do not reap the benefits of the tickets written. They also pay various professionals, such as an accountant at $2,000 a year and an auditor at $5,000 a year, and it pays $5,059 for a joint insurance fund. Snow removal has cost the authority an average of $4,000 a year; however, this year was costlier due to the severe snowstorms.
Members said it would save roughly $16,000 per year if the borough ran the parking authority. They said the decision is purely business, and that it makes sense financially.
Members said they currently have over $100,000 in the budget and about $50,000 in capital reserve for projects such as paving the parking lot.
Another factor in the decision to dissolve the agency, they said, is due to Gov. Chris Christie’s tighter controls on autonomous authorities, which require them to now have a website displaying the budget and audits.
For a small authority that oversees 144 parking meters and brings in $30,000 a year, members said they feel the operation is not feasible anymore.
Councilman Rui Almeida said having an autonomous body such as a parking authority is valuable in a small community like South River. He asked if there were any alternatives other than bringing it under borough control.
Members said they did not think so, given the tighter controls coming from the state.